Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords Walkthrough

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iv. Developing your Characters :IVDYC:
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... Powers :DPDPW:
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There are a number of thoughts about what Force Powers are useful. First, if
you are a Jedi Guardian, with an 8 WIS and 8 CHA, don't even bother with
offensive powers, like Force Lightning, Stun, or any other power that gives
your opponent a save. Not worth your time. If you want to wear armor and
not the Zeison Sha or similar, then avoid all powers that are restricted by
armor. Simple things.
Here are the best "non-offensive" powers in the game:
Master Energy Resistance - A+
This is a great power. It lasts a very long time, and works against all
types of energy damage, blasters, lightsabers, electric, fire, cold, etc.
It affects the entire party, and at Master level reduces each energy hit
by 20. Beyond that its cost in force points is nil when you consider that
you'll regenerate those force points before the effect ends.
Master Speed - A+
Best taken for Jedi Guardians who like to hit things, but works for
everyone. I can't prove it, but people say that it is buggy (the DEF
bonus doesn't work). Whatever. The real purpose to the "X" Speed effects
is the extra attacks. This power is one of only four ways to gain an
extra attack, the others being: Two Weapon Fighting, Flurry and Force
Enlightenment (which technically uses Speed as well). Doesn't last too
long, but you won't need it (or want it) for long anyway.
Master Heal - A-
If this were KotOR I, this gets an A+, but in KotOR II, you have an
automatic regeneration outside of battle, and don't need this that much.
In battle it still retains its usefulness, as it heals everyone in the
party.
Here are the best "offensive" powers in the game:
Force Storm - A
The final version of "Shock." No surprise that it's a Dark Side power,
they get all the good attack powers. This does 1-6 damage per level,
save for half. Thus you need decent WIS or CHA to do full damage all the
time. Or just a high level. And speaking of high levels, if you get
above level 20, this starts to knock out entire rooms in a single shot,
and can often take down large groups of really tough enemies in two or
three at most.
Force Wave - B
The ultimate in Force Push, the Wave always does damage, like Force
Storm, even if it isn't much. It also has a chance to stun opponents and
knock them over. This is probably the best power for Guardians with low
WIS and CHA to take as it is generally effective and combines well with
attacking. Run into combat, use this power first, then start whacking
people with your lightsaber.
Death Field - B
Nice in a large group, you can heal yourself from near zero to fully
healed almost instantly, but otherwise it does far, far less damage than
Force Storm. Another very nice Dark Side Power. Also, your opponents
get to Save for half again, so nice WIS, CHA or high levels help.
Insantiy and Stasis Field - B-
A good power to use in conjunction with a Lightsaber attack, as it holds
your enemies helpless for a decent period of time.
Force Crush - A-
Nice power, doing 100 to 200 damage, guaranteed. With the added bonus
of actually HOLDING your enemy while you do this, meaning they can't
attack you at all. It gets an A-, rather than an A for two reasons. One,
you get it too close to the end of the game for it to really help. And
two, it is no good at all against groups of enemies. Use Force Storm.
You get Force Crush after convening the Jedi Council on Dantooine, as a
Dark Sided player.
Kill - C-
Unless the enemy saves, this power does half their vitality damage, no
matter how much vitality they have. Sounds more useful than it is.
Although you can easily chain two or three (or four) of these together
to kill anything, it isn't very fast, efficient or powerful. If they
make their Save, this power does almost no damage at all.
Destroy Droid - C+
Almost the same as Force Storm, but against Droids only, hence it not
being that useful. Only really take this if you don't want Dark Powers,
as Force Storm does more damage. This does have the nice effect of
knocking the droid out for a round or two, if it fails its save.
Take as a Novelty Only:
Mind Trick / Force Confusion - C-
Mind Trick allows you to go by enemies unnoticed (if you attack them,
they notice), which is useless. When do we want to pass up that sweet,
sweet experience? Force Confusion, at least, gives the satisfaction of
letting your enemies kill each other.
Throw Lightsaber - D+
Three problems with this. First, it doesn't do enough damage, about half
that of Force Storm. Second, you lose your lightsaber while it's spinning
around out there, leaving you high and dry. Third, even upgraded you can
hit only three enemies with it. Skip it.